Note: The tree is sitting in a stand that is literally screwed into a ridiculously heavy piece of wood.
Note: The tree is sitting in a stand that is literally screwed into a ridiculously heavy piece of wood.
It’s a special day in the Nichols-Kelly household. Today is Watson T. Kitty’s first birthday! This has been a crazy year for our “little orange alive thing.”
Some of the highlights included:
Meeting Baby Emily and prompting declaring her the enemy.
Suffering through his first bath and refusing to ever like it even though he gets one almost every month.
Meeting his adopted big brother Dexter and learning that he possessed mischievous super powers.
Surviving a very scary medical emergency that left him sporting the cat equivalent of Uggs.
Being forced to celebrate the holidays.
And finally moving into a new home that is essentially a gigantic cat playground. He seems to be adapting to his new surroundings without any problems though.
Tonight Watson (all 11.2 pounds of him) is going to enjoy a can of birthday tuna and receive lots of cuddles — if he deems me worthy of being allowed to take such “liberties” with the “royal person” of course.
Wouldn’t you say that Dexter’s expression pretty much says it all? It appears that Dexter, like the rest of us, would really rather just stay in bed on this cold winter morning too. Happy Tuesday everyone! Grumble…grumble…
This is essentially what I imagine happens all day long while CK and I are at work.
If only I could actually get him to wear something like this…
Watson receives a lot of attention. Much like any second child, poor Dexter tends to get the short end of the stick. Dex was only with us for about a month before Watson fell ill and wow did his true colors come out in a big way while Watson was in the hospital.
You see Dexter is smart. Eerily smart in fact and super crafty. This means he gets bored very easily. So without his little kitty friend to keep him occupied Dexter got himself into tons of trouble.
One of his first offenses was to shred an entire roll of toilet paper all over CK’s bathroom. That was awesome to pick up. We now have to keep the toilet paper inside the bathroom cupboard. Another one of his favorite morning tricks is to sit in the middle of the sink while you’re trying to brush your teeth. I don’t know about you, but that’s my favorite way to start the day.
But then Dexter really out did himself. The first evening that Watson was home from the hospital we decided it would be best for Dex to spend the night in the spare bedroom. Of course, since Dex can open doors we had to lock him in (with litter and food and toys mind you). Well the next morning when I went to let him out I discovered that he had pulled up the tack strip from the carpet in front of the door and started to chew it up. Someone almost had to find a new home when I found that destructive deed. The repair work is so coming out of his kitty treat allowance!
Thankfully Watson is home now and Dexter is back to his regular habits such as sleeping on his back with his paws in the air. Don’t you think his belly looks like a tick-tack-toe board?
He also likes to try to escape from the apartment. Thankfully he hasn’t figured that one out yet.
And of course, his favorite pastime, being a big soft cuddly bear. It’s impossible to stay mad at him for long since he’s just so precocious and friendly. He’s a big fat pain-in-the ass kitty, but we love him.
I swear I didn’t pick out Watson simply because he matches every single piece of fabric in my house from our baby blue comforter, to the living room rug and now the table runner. He’s simply a lovely shade of buttery yellow. He can’t help it if he’s beautiful?!
Watson and Dexter received a brand new water fountain over the weekend. Watson is still figuring it out. His initial attempt at drinking yielded a big puddle of water on the dining room floor and a very damp Watson. Dexter totally laughed at him.
Then Watson got to play with his new snugly kitty bag toy and refused to share with Dexter.
Just in case you were wondering though, Watson isn’t always quite so cute and photogenic. Case in point: if looks could kill I’d be long dead.
Watson is going to live! On Friday, Chris and I were relieved to learn that both of the FIP tests that were run on our kitten came back negative. We still have no idea what horrible ailment he caught which then caused him to end up in the kitty cat ER but I suppose it doesn’t really matter as he’s completely back to his old self.
This means that it’s OK to make fun of him properly now, right? Ladies and gentlemen please say hello to Franken-Watson. His stitches have been removed but he still looks lopsided with the missing fur on his neck. Combine that with his kitty Uggs and he’s a regular old walking around riot with paws.
Silly looking or not we’re so incredibly grateful that he’s fine. I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t wake up in the morning to find his little form sitting alertly on the window sill watching the world come to life from behind the glass.
I’ve been waiting for Watson’s test results to come back before I posted another update but that seems to be taking forever and a day so I just wanted to let you all know that Watson is doing amazingly well. Right now he’s in his usual energetic and heated morning battle with Dexter. Every day since we brought him home he’s only become stronger. He’s eating and drinking like a champ and completely spoiled with extra tuna and freshly roasted chicken meals. It seems to be one of the few ways I can “trick” him into taking his antibiotics that doesn’t involve torturing him unnecessarily.
I really don’t know what to think. Essentially we were sent home from the hospital thinking that he was going to literally die any second. Most cats diagnosed with FIP only live an average of 9 days. We can’t seem to find anything in the literature about your cat coming home and completely recovering and then passing away, but I guess time and test results will tell. In the meantime we’re thoroughly enjoying having our kitten back to his old energetic and adorable self.
On Friday Chris and I are taking Watson to his normal vet, whom we just love, and we’ll get his stitches out and talk to her about any test results we receive this week. Frankly you wouldn’t even know anything has happened to Watson with the exception of his shaved neck and legs. Amusingly enough both of his front legs were shaved half-way up the leg to accommodate his IV. It makes him look like he’s wearing Uggs. Poor Watson…now he’s a fashion victim too. Please keep those kitty prayers coming! xoxo, Erin
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